STORY OF ONAM

 How to make a large Pookalam

ONAM has got everything to do with King MAHABALI.  How did it all start ?

There was an Asuran demon who hated Lord Vishnu.  This demon had a son named Prahlada who was a strong devotee of Vishnu.  His father  did not like this and tried to kill him but Lord Vishnu took the avtaar of Narsimha and saved Prahlada.  Prahlada had a son called Virochara who is Bali's father.  Bali was known as Mahabali as he was a good ruler and people loved him.

Mahabali was the grandson of Prahlada.  He defeated the gods Devas and through his power took over the three worlds.  The Devas came to Lord Vishnu and asked for his help.  Lord Vishnu refused because Mahabali was a good ruler and his devotee.  After victory Mahabali kept a Yajna(home) and that day he would grant anyone any request.  Lord Vishnu wanted to test him so he came in the avatar of a dwarf,a brahmin boy called Vamana.  Mahabali asked Vamana what he wanted.  Vamana said he needed only three foot of land.  Mahabali agreed.  Suddenly Vamana grew into enormous size and covered two foot of the universe.  One more foot was remaining out of the three so Mahabali offered his head for Vamana (Lord Vishnu) to step on.  Vamana stepped on his head and pushed him to the underworld.  

Vamana who was Lord Vishnu gave Mahabali a boon saying he could visit on the land that he ruled but only once every year.  Mahabali agreed to this.  This revisit of Mahabali marks the festival ONAM.  People are happy to invite him and they celebrate as it is a cultural and religious festival for 10 days.  

There is Vallam kalli , the traditional boat race. Race of many kinds of paddled long boats and snake boats are seen.  Pulikkali is a tiger dance, a folk art where people paint like tigers and hunters and entertain people.  Kummattikali is a mask dance where people are seen in colourful masks dancing and moving from house to house collecting gifts.  Onavilla is a short bow shaped musical instrument used while dancing.  There are women's dance called Onam kali, Thumbi Thullal.  There is Attachamayam where the elephants are seen in parade with colourful umbrellas, drum beats , folk songs, dance and music.  You can find Onapottam (various costumes) Then there is Kazhchakkula which means plantain offering.  The best part to see is the Pookalam where a variety of colourful flowers are pinched up into pieces and patterns decorated on the floor of every entrance of houses, shops, offices, temples etc and lamps are well arranged.  Women are seen dressed in traditional Kerala saree or Kasavu set mundu.  Everything really makes Kerala as God's own country.  

The last day of the stay of Mahabali is remembered with a nine course vegetarian Onasadya feast.  Onasadya consists of traditional vegetarian dish served on a banana leaf as lunch.  Traditional food includes Rice, Sambhar, Avial, Thoran, Mezhukkupuratti, Kaalan, Olan,Injipuli, Erisheri, Puliseri, Kichadi, Pachadi, Moru, Rasam, Pickles, Banana chips, Sharkaravertti, Pappadam and Payasam.

Families enjoy lunch together.  Gifts are given to workers.  Parents give silver coins to children. Onam honours the Vamana avatar of Vishnu and the homecoming of Emperor Mahabali, a legendary Emperor in the Indian history.


HAPPY ONAM TO ALL

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A HONOUR TO MY SCHOOL AND MY TEACHERS ON TEACHERS DAY SEPT 5

Image
TEACHERS DAY IS CELEBRATED ON SEPTEMBER 5 TO MARK THE BIRTHDAY OF THE HIGHLY RESPECTED TEACHER PAR EXCELLENCE, FORMER PRESIDENT, SCHOLAR, PHILOSOPHER AND BHARAT RATNA AWARD WINNER DR SARVAPELLI RADHAKRISHNAN WHO WAS BORN ON SEPTEMBER 5, 1888.   DR RADHAKRISHNAN SAID 'TEACHERS SHOULD BE THE BEST MINDS IN THE COUNTRY'  HIS MOTTO WAS  'TEACHING IS THE NOBLEST PROFESSION AND THE REST DOESN'T MATTER'.  THE UNIQUE ROLE OF A TEACHER IS TO HELP THE LIVES OF YOUNG MIND SHAPE THE FUTURE OF A COUNTRY.  TEACHERS DAY IS A DAY OF CELEBRATION WHERE STUDENTS HONOUR THE TEACHERS BY TAKING PART IN MANY CULTURAL PROGRAMMES IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES AND EXPRESSING THEIR LOVE AND  RESPECT BY OFFERING GIFTS TO THEIR TEACHERS WHO HAVE INSPIRED THEM.  TEACHERS MAKE A NATION OF BEAUTIFUL MINDS. T HIS PANDEMIC YEAR THOUGH WE ARE ALL INDOORS, I REMEMBER ALL MY TEACHERS AND WISH THEM HAPPY TEACHERS DAY.  
Read more

Legendary actor Dilip Kumar died in Mumbai on Wednesday 7 July 2021 at the age of 98

Image
  Dilip Kumar was born Mohammed Yusuf Khan on  11 December 1922       known as "Yusuf Sahab" to many people.   He changed his name to Dilip Kumar on the advice of Hindi film legend, Devika Rani, who had hired him for Bombay Talkies.   He was a very good  football player at school, and was the secretary of his school's football association.  He   was very soft-spoken in real life and he credits his parents for this, pointing out that his mother was very gentle and his father never shouted even when he was upset.  , Dilip Kumar was the biggest star to be discovered by Actor Raj Kapoor. They both  lived close to each other and went to the same college (Khalsa College).   His proficiency in Urdu got him a job in Bombay Talkies (owned by the legendary Devika Rani) in 1942, as a script writer. He was hired at Rs 1,250 per month.   Dilip Kumar was known to sing well too. He, however, sang only once on screen - in Musafir (1957), where he sang "Lagi nahin chhote rama kahe ji
Read more

REKHA THE QUEEN OF INDIAN CINEMA

Image
REKHA WAS BORN IN MADRAS (CHENNAI) TO TAMIL ACTOR GEMINI GANESAN AND TELUGU ACTRESS PUSHPAVALLI.  HER FATHER DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE HIS PATERNITY DURING HER CHILDHOOD,  THE FINANCIAL STATE OF HER FAMILY COMPELLED HER TO QUIT SCHOOL AND START A CAREER IN ACTING. SHE DID NOT SPEAK HINDI AND STRUGGLED TO COMMUNICATE WITH HER CO-WORKERS,  BOMBAY (MUMBAI) DURING THOSE DAYS WAS LIKE A JUNGLE TO HER AND THE MOST FRIGHTENING PHASES OF HER LIFE .  SHE WAS PUSHED, LITERALLY DRAGGED FROM ONE STUDIO TO ANOTHER AT THE AGE OF 13 AND SHE WAS TOTALLY IGNORANT OF THE WAYS OF CINEMA WORLD.  SHE HAD TO LEARN HINDI FOR THE MOVIE SAWAN BHADON WHICH MARKED A HIT FILM IN 1970 AND SHE BECAME A STAR OVERNIGHT.   REKHA  STARTED PAYING ATTENTION TO HER MAKE-UP, DRESS SENSE AND WORKED TO IMPROVE HER ACTING TECHNIQUE AND PERFECT HER HINDI-LANGUAGE SKILLS,  TO LOSE WEIGHT, SHE FOLLOWED A NUTRITIOUS DIET, LED A REGULAR, DISCIPLINED LIFE, AND PRACTISED YOGA.  SHE ALSO RECORDED ALBUMS TO PROMOTE PHYSICAL FITNESS.  HER FI
Read more